Dirty Minds

Next we travel back in time. To a time when I was 12 and able to sing a high C, those days have since marched on.

Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day is an English carol usually attributed as ‘traditional’; its first written appearance is in William B. Sandys’ Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern of 1833.

Now for me as a 12 year old the novelty of being able to sing the words “Virgin” and “ass” in the same carol was like winning the lottery. On the one hand my waspy upbringing taught me that saying “ass” was wrong regardless if it was in reference to a silly poor one or not. But on the other hand, doesn’t saying everything in song make everything okay? Just listen VERY closely to old jazz standards. Perverts, all of them, but I digress.

Here is the Rutter version, the one I giggled my way through as a boy.

Now fast-forward to me being 17 and a Bass, no high C, no high F even, perhaps an E on a good day. This arrangement by Willcocks not only offered laughs simply from the composers name, but also from repeated “Oh my, oh my, oh my” section. I do not feel I need to explain why, but for a pack of 17 year old boys it was enough to get the church giggles. It is something like the rhythmical breathing in “Slave” by one Ms. Britney Spears.